The Swiss Family Gschwind: Seated in our dining room were two brothers from Switzerland, Jermaine and Phillipe. These are two of the most elegant, urbane elderly gentlemen I have ever met. They both have white hair and are distinguished looking and they dressed to the nines almost every night. Between them, they had the most beautiful ties I have ever seen, and they looked great in their tuxedoes. They would attend every ball and dance the night away and didn't mind a nice bottle of champagne every now and then. They both speak a number of different languages, including German, French, Italian, and excellent English. Jermaine (Jerry) always reminded me of Maurice Chevalier because he looked and sounded just like him, right down to the French accented English. Phillipe spoke English with an American accent because he lived there for forty years, and they now have houses in San Francisco and Sonoma. One night at a fancy ball, I was admiring the diamond pin that Jerry wore in his tuxedo lapel. Imagine my amazement when he flipped over his lapel and I saw that the backing on this lovely pin was the word F**K in diamonds!

Mr. Whooping Crane: Absolutely nobody enjoyed a departure (or an arrival, for that matter) more then Mr. Whooping Crane. He reminds me of a deadhead from the 60s with his white pony tail and his rail thin build. He constantly has a look of being spaced out, as well. He seemed to be a free spirit who did whatever he felt like doing at any given moment. And what he most felt like doing when we would be leaving a port would be to hang over the railing of the sun deck, waving like a fiend at everyone on shore, and giving these great joyous whooping noises. They were deafening and you could hear them all over the ship. No one got more marks for enthusiasm than he did. When we arrived in Cairo, we were met by dancers that looked like whirling dervishes in great colorful skirts. He convinced a dancer to let him put a skirt on and proceeded to whirl on the spot until the dancer was forced to stop him before he fell down!

Fred and Ginger: This was a couple who totally captivated my attention. They were probably in their late 60s, and were both tall, lithe, tanned, well-dressed, and sexy looking. She was tanned to a dark brown all over her body and had closely cropped salt and pepper hair. He had white hair, and they made quite a stunning couple. They loved to dance and could be seen at all the balls, twirling around the floor extremely gracefully. She would wear very dramatic dresses, all beaded and backless, etc., with bracelets around her upper arms. Their whole personas screamed "Look at me!" and I certainly did. I later learned that they used to be professional dancers in their younger days. I have to say that I think they haven't lost a step.

Lenny: This was the guy who everyone on the ship knew simply as Lenny. You couldn't miss Lenny, because he was a very large man with a very large bald head, and ship scuttlebutt had it that Lenny had inherited a million dollars before booking the cruise. Lenny could be seen at every single event the QE2 offered. He would sing in the talent show (see photo), he would win at trivia, he won the prize for the Mardi Gras Ball by coming as a red-headed, well-endowed woman in a slinky beaded dress! He would buy clothing in the native style at almost every port we visited and came to dinner one night in a Japanese robe that made him look like he was wearing his bathrobe. After our stop in Mumbai, he came to the evening entertainment (where he always sat in the front row) in an orange silk knee-length Nehru jacket and a matching turban! I can't begin to describe what he wore on St. Patrick's Day, but I have never seen so much green or so many shamrocks on one person (Lenny is from New Jersey), and I'm sorry to say that I missed his Valentine's Day outfit. Some people thought Lenny was a bit OTT (over the top) but I thought he was a fine example of a person who was having some fun and was determined to enjoy every moment of his trip. I'm sorry to say that since we boarded the QM2, I have only seen Lenny once, wearing a colorful Japanese hapi coat to dinner but looking decidedly unhappy. I think that on this big ship where there isn't such a sense of commraderie, he is a small fish in a big pond.

The QE2 Diva: Just in case you haven't seen the photo I recently added to my previous collection of characters, I have included here a photo of Mary, taken when she was singing an aria from La Boheme at one of the talent shows. Here she is dressed in the role of Mimi, the flower seller. You had to be there. Unfortunately, Mary is another personality who seems to have been swallowed up by this big ship. There are no talent shows where she can showcase her act and I haven't seen her since we checked onto the ship.

I won't be doing a journal entry on QM2 characters, because there don't seem to be any. Maybe the QM2 doesn't attract the eccentric crowd the way the QE2 does. The only sighting I can report on was an elderly couple that came into the Chart Room where we were having a drink before dinner. I call them Mr. and Mrs. Leprechaun. He was wearing a felt hat, that made him look like he had forgotten to put on his lederhosen, a green and red checked shirt that had a huge pattern, green and red checked pants in a smaller pattern, a red scarf tied around his neck, and black patent shoes. She was decked out in dark green pants, a different green sweater covered by a green and pink flowered jacket, black patent shoes, and she carried a lime green purse. I sat there staring at them wondering if they were part of the evening's entertainment or what! But then I heard the man telling another couple that this was his formal evening wear. I don't know where they were planning on eating dinner - maybe the crew mess.